Happy Father's Day


Happy Father's Day to the dads out there, including Justin on his first Father's Day!

 I can't believe that our little burrito man was so tiny and sleepy and amicable to being wrapped up so tight just three months ago.  He is so different now!  More about that later...

Yesterday Justin spent a few hours fixing up this little cat house that his dad made in the 80's for the farm cats at his family farm.  It sat outside for years and ended up being stored in a farm shed until Justin's cousins found it and set it aside along with several other artifacts.  It was very dingy and filthy with worn off, peeling paint.  Justin pressure washed it and repainted it.  On the back there is a food dispenser that you can't see that allowed the cats to eat their food where the dogs couldn't get it.  It got  a coat of shiny black spray paint.  It is definitely true that farm dogs (and I'm sure any dog who had access to it) loooooove cat food.  It is very rich and has a higher fat content than dog food.  We had a golden retriever named Penny when I was growing up and she ate cat food until she was too old to hop up on the table in the garage where the cat food was kept and crane her neck over edge of the container and sneak a few bites here and there.  She thought she was so sneaky but her borderline obese physique gave her away! 

Long term, the cat house is intended to go to Justin's sister but he brought it in the house so Allan could have the cat house experience. 

Notice that over Allan's shoulder there is a little loft to give the cats extra space.  It got some new carpet that conveniently matches our basement carpet!  It reminds me of he cat house my dad built for our cats when we were growing up.  It was a double decker too!  It was bigger because the bottom "floor" was a dog house and then there was a little door in the ceiling so the cats could jump upstairs.  They also had an outdoor entrance.  I wish I had a picture but I don't! 

He has excellent balance!  I wonder if he will sleep in the house or in his familiar old tent tonight? 

Mr. Benjamin has been changing so much every week.  I really started noticing the week after I returned from Vegas.  He is getting really strong and kicks so hard!  He loves to get into what we call the "board" position where he tenses all his muscles and locks his knees and when you move him he is straight and stiff as a 2x4 and now he has been combining his leg movements with the board position and is getting much harder to manage.  I have started strapping him in when I put him in his bouncy chair because he is getting close to maneuvering out of it.  Tonight he almost dove off the couch when I was changing his position while I was holding him.  When I hold him he kicks, head butts, thrashes and pulls hair.  Doesn't he sound like a snuggly little dream?  Haha...he is so not...I think it's pretty cute though.  He does all of these things while giggling and cooing so how could I resist? 

What is really making me happy is that he is now interested in toys and holding things (mostly recieving blankets) so he can entertain himself for more than a few minutes at a time.  He loves this play mat thing with a bunch of obnoxious dangly objects hanging from it.  He starts on his back and ends up rolling over on his side because he likes to play with his feet and then he tips over.  He has rolled onto his tummy a few times but not enough for me to say he is a regular roller.  He needs to work on pulling his arm out from underneath himself when he rolls.

And...then he tries pull his sock off...

 And gets his foot stuck in a ring...

And yanks on that football so all the toys jangle and make noise.  During all of this playing the mat ends up shifting off the rug onto the hard floor so we drag it back and start again. 

 The play mat recently got a new addition...it was not included in the original ocean themed set!  That football wasn't either but he loves it hanging there so it will stay for awhile.  I have to admit that I am kind of glad the newborn stage is over although I don't want to wish away any stage of his childhood.  It is just nice that he has some (limited, very limited!) interests besides being held and sleeping!  It is fun to see him learn new things. 

Oh...one last picture in honor of Father's Day...me and my dad back in...oh...1984.  Look at that stack of books!  I wonder if he read them all that night?